Tuesday Tech Tip: Geeking Out with Google Slides

Cherry Creek Bright Spot: Technology at Liberty Middle School

As a district Technology and Learning Coach, I often have teachers ask me how technology fits in with math instruction, beyond just allowing kids to play math games on the Internet during free time. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely a variety of good websites for math instruction and reinforcement, but how do you make technology an integral and seamless part of your math classroom?  

Jasmine Solano, a math teacher at Liberty Middle School, recently invited me to observe her math classes. In doing so, I was able to see how easy and effective it could be to make technology a regular part of her classes, and how much the students are learning and growing from this practice. Check out the Bright Spot video below to hear from Mrs. Solano and some of her students...

If you would like to learn more about integrating math with technology at your school, please contact your Technology and Learning Coaches by filling out our form. 

Twelve Tools of December: Desmos

During the weekdays of December, we're sharing one tool per day as part of our Twelve Tools of December series.  Some of these tools are designed to be used instructionally, some can help you be more productive, and some are just fun.

Today, we're sharing about Desmos. 




What is it?

Desmos a fabulous FREE graphing calculator that can instantly plot any equation entered. It's considered the next generation graphing calculator. You can find it in the Chrome App Store and in the iTunes store for use on iPhones and iPads.  Once you get there, you can explore and then create an account or link it to your google account.  

Why would I use it?  What does it do?
Do you or your students graph functions, plot tables of data, evaluate equations, or explore transformations?  If you answered yes, then this is the tool to use.  The website has a wealth of math examples as well as creative arts applications.  Need some inspiration and lesson ideas?  Click here for an entire site dedicated to hand crafted classroom activities made by teachers.  

Here are some sweet examples from the site.  Click on the name of the graph to see Desmos in action.  

Sun to Moon

Normal Sine Integration

Snowman

And if this was not enough, this tool has been reviewed on Graphite too.  

Where can I learn more?
Desmos has YouTube channel where you can learn from their experts and view how-to videos. Additionally, there is a handy blog where you can keep up on the latest.  Do you tweet?  Consider following them @Desmos

Whether you consider yourself a math wiz or a novice you likely will be enthralled with what Desmos can do!  

Twelve Tools of December: Bridges Math Tools from Math Learning Center

During the weekdays of December, we're sharing one tool per day as part of our Twelve Tools of December series.  Some of these tools are designed to be used instructionally, some can help you be more productive, and some are just fun.

Today, we're sharing about Bridges Math Apps from the Math Learning Center. 



What is it? 
These are actually 8 different apps which are available for IOS devices and web apps for use in a browser such as Chrome. 
These apps are connected to Bridges in Mathematics K-5 and are based on the visual models used to support student learning.  
The 8 apps are:  Pattern Shapes, Number Frames, Math Vocabulary Cards, Geoboard, Number Line, Number Pieces, Number Pieces Basic, and Number Rack.

Why would I use it?  
They are FREE--yep, no money needed!  With the adoption of Bridges Math coming to elementary schools soon, we thought that you would like to explore these tools now.  They are available through this link.  Additionally, students can find the apps when they click on the app launcher in the Chrome browser.  Why not get out some Chromebooks and have students explore?  Ask them their opinion about the tool(s)?  After students have the opportunity to out the apps, consider creating an assignment in Schoology where they need to use a specific tool to to represent their learning.  Teach students how to take a screen shot of their work and send it to you.  

You might also consider going to the Illustrative Mathematics site to find a task for your students to complete using the Bridges Math Apps!  




Are there similar tools?
Another site to find online math tools is the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives.  While more extensive than the Bridges Apps, they are a little dated and now have a free as well as a paid version.  

Where can I learn more?
Check out this YouTube video to see how to integrate these apps into Google Classroom!  


Go ahead….check them out…you will be glad that you did!  

Number Rack	Number Pieces Basic	Number Pieces	Number Line
Geoboard	Math Vocabulary Cards	Number Frames	Pattern Shapes

The Twelve Tools of December: Screencastify

During the weekdays of December, we're sharing one tool per day as part of our Twelve Tools of December series.  Some of these tools are designed to be used instructionally, some can help you be more productive, and some are just fun.

Today, we're sharing about Screencastify.  


What is it?

Screencastify is an extension in Chrome that allows you to create screen video recordings. With Screencastify, you can create and share video tutorials of your screen or create presentations. As long as you have the Chrome browser, you have the ability to create screencasts using Screencastify. There is no cost to use Screencastify Lite, and you are able to record up to 10 minutes of video.

Why would I use it?  What does it do?
Screencasts are video recordings of your computer screen that have an audio recording in them. They can be very useful for showing someone how to do something on the computer, as in a tutorial or presentation. The viewer can see what to do and where to click on the screen, and hear audio of what’s being said while you click around. It’s a great way for teachers to show parents, students or colleagues how to do something online. It can also be a great way for students to describe and share their thinking while they’re working online. You even have the option to embed a video of yourself in the bottom of the video that you record. 

Screencastify doesn’t collect personal information, and at this time doesn’t have anything specific in their Privacy Policy that addresses under 13.

Are there similar tools?

Snagit is another tool that you can use for screencasting. It is a Chrome web app and an extension in Chrome. It allows you to take screenshots (images) of your screen, or screencasts (video). If you purchase the paid version of Snagit, you can use it on Mac and PC platforms in addition to the Chrome browser. Check out tutorials for Snagit and their privacy policies for students under 13. 

Kathy Schrock also has a great site dedicated to Screencasting in the Classroom. You can check out screencasting tools for different devices, as well as classroom samples.

Where can I learn more?
Here's one screencast tutorial found from a site that compares Screencastify and Snagit.

Tuesday Tech Tip: Video Editing with WeVideo

 

Some of my first experiences with using technology in my classroom were based around video production. It was a great way to have my students record and share media in exciting and innovative ways. At that time, your options were to use the video editing software that was available for the platform you were using. (ie-iMovie for Macs and MovieMaker for PCs) Now that we have Chromebooks, having an all purpose video editing tool that kids can use anywhere, anytime is essential, and that’s where WeVideo comes in!

WeVideo allows us to use our Google accounts to log in, so once students are in their Chromebooks, connecting to WeVideo is simple. Connecting through Google Drive also allows us to store video and images in our Google Drive so that students have easy access to media when creating their videos. WeVideo will also create a folder in your Google Drive that will be titled, "WeVideo" where your projects will be saved.

Once you’re in WeVideo, you may default to the Storyboard Timeline. It’s a nice, simple format for creating video including a voiceover recording. If you’ve done some video editing before, try switching your Timeline view in the top left corner of the screen to the Simple or Advanced Timelines to give you more options for adding in your voice and other audio tracks.

WeVideo is a great tool to use for digital storytelling. This simple list of steps can help you make your way through a digital storytelling project, as well as any video projects that your students may be completing.

1. Modeling: Create a sample digital story in WeVideo to use as a model for your students.
2. Script Writing: GoogleDocs work well for this part of the process. The writing process is as important as the technology that you will use for your digital storytelling creation. Remember, you need a good script to create a good digital story!
3. Editing: This includes self-editing, peer editing and teacher feedback on your scripts.
   
   
4. Record your scripts:
   
   In WeVideo this is your voiceover. Your voice is the star of your digital story, so this is one of the most important parts of your final product. Recording your script at the beginning of the digital story creation allows you to easily add in your media because you will know exactly how long your story needs to be. Make sure that you are able to create a nice, strong and clear voiceover. Students can record in the hallway or other quiet areas of the school to help with classroom noise interference. You can also take your browser out of full screen on your Chromebooks and open up a second window in order to put your GoogleDoc script side by side with your WeVideo window. This will allow you to read and record your script without printing out any pages.
   
5. Asset Collection: This is where you collect your images, video, and music. You can load your images and video into Google Drive, and then upload them into your WeVideo Media file storage area. WeVideo also includes great options for music, so you don’t have to look any further than the project that you’re working on for a great soundtrack! Remember to choose music that will compliment your story. Lyrics can interfere with your voice recording, and the tone and style of the music should match the feelings expressed in your story.
6. Digital Story Assembly: Once everything is loaded up into your Google Drive, you will then put it all together with your voiceover. When you add in your music, you have a great opportunity to adjust volume levels so that your voice can continue to be the star!
7. Include Citations: Remember to include citations for any images that you use in your project. You can add an End Title to include these citations. If you need extra room for your citations, then try adding more than one End Title.
8. Publishing: You will be sharing your digital story to your Google Drive account. As you Publish, have your students click on the “Public” Button to change their privacy settings in Google Drive to private. Once the video is in Google Drive, they can share it to the individuals who need to view their work.
   

Need more help with creating a WeVideo project? Check out WeVideo Academy Tutorials. You can also check out WeVideo's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy to see how WeVideo addresses students under 13 using WeVideo. WeVideo has many plan options, including their free version so that you can find the plan that fits your needs.

Tuesday Tech Tip: 10 Great Ways to Use Schoology’s Media Albums With Your Class(es) or School

We love the media albums feature in Schoology.  Media albums are simple to create and use, but can be so powerful. Did you know that you can crop pictures in the album, rotate and re-order the pictures, and tag people in them? You can also decide if you want to enable comments, and if you want your students to be able post pictures and videos in the album. 

Remember, Schoology is password protected, so you can enjoy posting pictures here without them being publicly shared. However, if your course or group is public, your media album can also be made public. To learn how to create a media album, see Schoology's video directions by clicking here.  

Here is a screen capture of what a media album looks like, including some pictures and video:

If you're ready for ideas on how to incorporate media albums with your class or school, find 10 great ones below.

1, Show and Tell: Kids love to show off things that are too big to bring to school, or alive, or that they ate for dinner last night. They also want to show everyone things they (or their cats) do at home. Have them post those pictures and videos to your Schoology Show and Tell Media Album.
2. Vacation Pictures: Create a vacation media album and have your students post pictures and captions of where they are - in front of the Eiffel Tower, perhaps? The Statue of Liberty? A battlefield from the Civil War? Pull your students' pictures into your lessons when your class learns about those locations in history or current events, or even science. Other ideas: Have the student be "Teacher for the Day," teaching other students about where they went or add everyone's pictures to Google’s My Maps to document places the class has been.
3. Science Experiments: Have groups of students document the phases of an experiment in media albums with captions.  They can also add predictions or results of the experiments using the comments feature.
4. Field Trips: Bring your students’ parents with you (virtually) on your next field trip. You and your students can take pictures and post them to the media album so parents can experience the trip while you do.
5. School Events: Take pictures during poetry slams, the science fair, Veteran’s Day events, etc. to document exciting things happening at your school or in your class.
6. Athletics and Activities: Capture dances, plays, musicals, and sporting events after school.
7. Virtual Art Gallery: Have students upload photos of their artwork into a media album for others to comment on or just peruse.
8. Vocabulary Sets: For primary students, try having students take pictures of items that start with a certain letter. For foreign language classes, have students take pictures and label them in the caption with the word (or phrase) in the language they are learning.
9. P.E. Class: Take photos or videos of students performing an exercise correctly (or incorrectly) and post them for others to see and learn from.
10. Silent Auction: Take photos of items offered in a Silent Auction and post them with description and opening bid as the caption.  Have people comment to bid on the items.

Each item in your media album can be customized. Below is a screen cap of the options (click the green star icons to learn more about the features available).

We hope you will now have some new ideas for using Schoology's media albums. How will you use them with your class(es) or school?

Tuesday Tech Tip: Digital Classroom Tools (Schoology, Google Classroom, and gScholar)

Cherry Creek Schools provides many digital tools for the classroom teacher.  Yet, it can sometimes be confusing to figure out which one to use and why.  With the recent release of Google Classroom, our beta testing of gScholar, and our implementation of Schoology, teachers will undoubtedly have questions about what options are available and how these tools support learning.  All three have their place, so let's take a look at how each would best fit into the CCSD classroom.

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We are extremely fortunate to have Schoology (COLE 3.0) as our comprehensive Learning Management System or LMS.  For most of our digital learning needs, Schoology more than fits the bill.  As a CCSD teacher, Schoology is your best option for:

• Organizing your digital classroom (differentiation, customization, and pacing)
• Posting class-wide announcements or updates
• Using online discussion boards
• Posting links, files, images/video, and pages for units and lessons (including audio support)
• Communicating with parents
• Giving online tests/quizzes
• Embedding interactive learning activities
• Assessing both digital and non-digital student work (including alignment to standards)
• Creating digital assignments (work or files can be submitted by students or done off-line)
• Tracking student mastery with specific standards and learning outcomes
• Collaborating and sharing with other teachers on lessons, assessments, and class resources

Because Schoology syncs with PowerSchool, all classes are built automatically and students are added and removed automatically.  

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Google Classroom was released to K-12 Google Apps domains during the week of August 11th. A good supplement to an existing LMS like Schoology, Classroom helps teachers share and organize Google Drive files with classes or groups of students.  (While students can turn in assignments in Classroom, submitting student work in Schoology has many more options for feedback and assessment.)  As a CCSD teacher, Classroom is your best option for:

• sending a Google Doc to students for individual editing (like sending out a Thinking Map or another template for students to edit individually which is automatically shared with you)
• sharing a Google file (presentation, spreadsheet, document or drawing) that you want all students to collaborate on as a group 

Because Google Classroom isn't syncing courses or class rosters, teachers need to create their own classes and manually manage student enrollment and enrollment changes (students can join with a course code or be invited via email).

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gScholar is a tool we've been beta testing to help with classroom management when using Chrome and Chromebooks with students.  (gScholar also has a GoogleDrive management aspect, but with the release of Classroom, it will soon be integrating its services with Google Classroom.)  As a CCSD teacher, gScholar is your best option for:

• sending messages to students using Chromebooks or Chrome
• "pushing" a website to all students using Chromebooks or Chrome
• viewing tabs open on devices using Chromebooks and Chrome (and closing tabs remotely, if necessary)
• taking screen shots of a student Chrome tab (helpful if you want to gather individual student progress on an interactive web site or capture what a student is doing in Chrome or on a Chromebook)

Because gScholar isn't syncing user roles, courses or class rosters, teachers need to have a teacher account created for them (typically by a technology coordinator or other support personnel) and will need to create their own classes and manually manage student enrollment (teachers can add and delete students from their class rosters).

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Ultimately, it's up to teachers to decide how and when to utilize these instructional tools in the classroom.  Want to know more about any of these?  Please contact the Office of Instructional Technology -- we'd be happy to work with you!

#CCSDTech: An Award-Winning School Year

The Cherry Creek School District's Department of Instructional Technology ended our year with a bang at Schoology's NEXT 2014 conference held here in Denver at The Curtis Hotel on June 24 and 25.  The conference was a fabulous way to reflect on the successes of this school year.  It was also a perfect way to get geared up for next school year at the same time.  From finally meeting the people at Schoology who we had connected with virtually during the year, to hearing AMAZING keynotes from Schoology's CEO and co-founder Jeremy Friedman, Alan November, and Jennie Magiera, to presenting, representing, and learning throughout the conference, and connecting with other Schoology users from throughout the world NEXT 2014 was a powerful experience to say the least.

And I haven't even mentioned the really good part yet.

Schoology gave some awards to a handful of select educators for their efforts in using and creating capacity with Schoology.  Our favorite learning management system also gave a District of the Year award.  That district was Cherry Creek Schools.

Photo courtesy of fellow CCSD Tech colleague, Sherri Clemens.

We were so excited, proud, and humbled to receive this honor from a learning management system that has 5,000,000+ current users and projects they'll have 9,000,000+ by the end of 2014.  We also recognized the amount of work and passion so many talented and passionate CCSD people put in to help make this happen as well.  From our school board (who approved the purchase of  18,000+ Chromebooks so CCSD students could access Schoology) to our network admins (who made sure our teachers and students had a network designed for seamless Internet access throughout each and every day) to our PowerSchool administrative team (who ensured the information gathered in Schoology goes directly to our student information system) to our teachers and district instructional leadership (who were willing to try out yet another way to make their learning environments more dynamic) to so many others.  This was a total team effort.  There is absolutely no doubt that we made this happen together.

So what's next?  More (4,000+) Chromebooks for our elementary schools, diving deeper into our current Schoology use, and much, much more.  The work is always far from "done."  

The 2013-2014 school year was a successful one.  We're looking to make the 2014-2015 even bigger and better than last year.  This is going to be a pretty large challenge, but we like challenges.  It's part of what we do.

Schoology highlighted their award winners in a blog post here.

Check out Schoology's Storify from the NEXT 2014 conference here. 

Follow our ongoing CCSD Tech journey via Google+ and Twitter on Tagboard here. 

This post is cross-posted in Jay's personal blog.  Click here to visit Jay's blog.

Technology in K-1

What can K-1 students do with technology? That's a question we get often. The answer is, A LOT! 

Students at Independence Elementary showed us that they love learning using Chromebooks and Dell laptops- or whatever devices they can get their hands on! 

Do they just play games? No way! These students created Google presentations using information they found on Encyclopedia Britannica. Check out the video below to see how the projects went and what the students learned! 

If you would like help implementing technology projects with your students next year, please contact your Technology and Learning Coaches by filling out this form.  We love co-planning and co-teaching and want to help you be successful with your students using technology!

Chromebooks and Schoology: The 2013-14 CCSD School Year by the Numbers

Cross posted from Jay's blog here.  Enjoy!

The school year is winding down so naturally it's time to look back and measure our team's impact as a group.  Our CIO asked us to compile some Schoology/Chromebook numbers and statistics to be shared with our school board.  Before we began number crunching we knew the numbers were going to be impressive.  We didn't think the numbers would as impressive as compiled below.  Let me elaborate.

Rewind to the beginning of this school year.  A purchase was approved by our school board for Chromebooks for all of our schools.  This wasn't a few Chromebooks per class or a cart for every building.  This was 18,000+ Chromebooks for the students of Cherry Creek School District.  The total number worked out to a 2:1 student to Chromebook ratio in our middle and high schools and a 4:1 ratio across the district in grades two through five in our elementary schools.  (For perspective, the only "complaint" we've received in regards to the Chromebooks is that buildings want more of them and that's a decent place to be.)

The Chromebooks gave us the access, now we needed a place to learn, interact, store materials, and share online.  Prior to the Chromebooks being purchased there was another significant investment made for a district-wide learning management system.  That LMS was Schoology.

The pre-Chromebook global Schoology statistics for our district (from August 2013 through November 2013) looked like this:

700,000+ visits

5,800,000+ page views

Seven minutes and 47 seconds was the average time per visit

65,500+ comments posted

Almost 77,000 submissions

47,500+ files uploaded to Schoology

The Chromebooks arrived in buildings in November 2013 and were fully enrolled and ready to use by early December 2013.  It was time to get to work and that's what happened across the district.  The post-Chromebook Schoology stats (from December 2013 through March 2014) looked like this:

1,039,000+ visits

Almost 9,000,000 page views

Average time per Schoology visit: eight minutes and 41 seconds

147,000+ comments posted

200,000+ submissions

66,500 files uploaded to Schoology

Let's take a moment to compare the pre and post-Chromebook numbers.  After the Chromebooks arrived in schools and were updated/enrolled on our domain there were:

Over 333,000 more vists to Schoology

3.1 million+ more page views in Schoology

81,000+ more comments left in Schoology.

125,000+ more assignment submitted by students.

19,000 more files uploaded to Schoology.

Also, the average Schoology visit increased by almost one minute.  Multiply that by 1,000,000+ visits and that's a lot of time.

Overall, our CCSD teachers and students visited/will visit Schoology 2,000,000+ times this school year.  Multiply that by the average time per visit and that's 275,000+ hours spent on our LMS.  That's a little thing I like to call return on investment. 

All of this activity was not a direct result of the Chromebooks, but it can be said with confidence that most of it was.  Many schools had some access already, but the Chromebooks allowed more widespread and equitable access across our entire district.  Our network administrators also have done an absolutely FABULOUS job with making sure our buildings had the infrastructure to handle all of this new traffic.  More about the powerful and essential work they do here.

So there you have it, impressive numbers that reflect a new chapter of teaching and learning in Cherry Creek Schools.  The great news is that we're just getting started.  More Chromebooks (right around 4,000) are on the way to provide grades 1-5 a 2.5:1 student to Chromebook ratio in our elementary schools.  Our board and those involved have made a huge investment in CCSD's future.  We have seen it pay off already and we're all definitely looking forward to where things progress from here.

(And just for reference, here's the Google presentation we shared with our CIO complete with fancy graphs and cool captions.  Feel free to check it out below or for a little closer look at the presentation click on this link.)

Cynthia Liggins and her Techsperts Shine at Sunrise Elementary

How do building techs manage to keep our schools running?  Many are charged with fixing computers, printers, projectors, and document cameras, MAP testing students, getting computers imaged and ready for use, and keeping carts organized and working. The list goes on and on. 

So how does Cynthia Liggins manage to accomplish everything she's assigned to do plus assist with the robotics club, tackle the yearbook, and deliver daily video announcements, all with a sunny attitude?  

She enlists her Techsperts to help! Techsperts are a group of students at Sunrise Elementary in grades 3-5 who help out with technology, take pictures for the yearbook, and deliver the daily video announcements. They learn the skills to do this from their building tech, Cynthia Liggins. Check out the video below to learn more about how students can help make the technology at a school run smoother, and learn a lot about technology, pride and leadership in the process...

http://youtu.be/ZqAzTcoilNg